életpályatáblák

Életpályatáblák, or life tables, are statistical tools used to present information about the mortality experience of a population. They are commonly used in demography, actuarial science, and public health to analyze and project mortality rates. A life table essentially depicts the probability of a person dying at each age.

The most common type is the period life table, which shows the mortality rates for a population during a specific period of time, typically one year. This table assumes that the mortality rates observed in that period will remain constant for the entire lifespan of individuals born in that year. Cohort life tables, on the other hand, track a specific group of people (a cohort) from birth through their entire lives, accounting for changes in mortality rates over time.

Key components of a life table include columns such as age, the number of survivors at the beginning of each age interval, the number of deaths within that interval, the probability of dying (qx), and life expectancy at each age. Life expectancy, denoted as ex, is the average number of additional years a person of a given age can expect to live, assuming current mortality rates.

Life tables are crucial for various applications, including calculating life insurance premiums, pension plan liabilities, and understanding population aging trends. They provide a standardized way to compare mortality patterns across different populations or over time. Governments and research institutions use life table data to inform public health policies and social security planning.